The present invention relates to a pager whose power supply is automatically turned on when the time approaches the time stored in the pager to receive a message, and whose power supply is automatically turned off again after the reception of the message.
A pager is generally used by an individual to call up another and is often used while the user is awake, and few people send messages at midnight. The pager is so adapted that the power supply of a receiving unit is normally turned on in correspondence with a receiving timing to extend the battery life, and it is checked as to whether any message addressed to the user has arrived. At other times, an attempt is made not to allow the current to flow as practically as possible such as by turning off the power supply to the receiving unit. If an attempt is made to further extend the battery life in this state, the user turns off the power supply before going to bed at night, and turns on the power supply in the morning. However, if the user forgets to turn on the power supply in the morning, the user cannot be paged. On the other hand, if the user forgets to turn off the power supply at night, it becomes impossible to extend the battery life. As such, a function has been proposed for automatically turning the power supply on and off when the time arrives, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication 5-259966/(1993).
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a conventional pager. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 1 denotes a power supply unit in which voltage is converted to a fixed voltage by, for example, using a battery to supply power to each block. Numeral 2 denotes a receiving unit which receives a radio wave transmitted to the pager, and demodulates and decodes the same to fetch a signal. If the fetched signal is addressed to the user, the user is notified that a message has arrived by sounding a melody by using a alarm unit 4 through a control unit 3 constituted by a CPU, or by flashing an LED, and the message is displayed on a display unit 5 by using an LCD or the like. Numeral 6 denotes a storage unit which stores data on the time for turning on the power supply and the time for turning it off.
The control unit 3 sets in the storage unit 6 the time for controlling the power supply and the type of on/off at that time, and when the set time arrives, the control unit 3 controls the supply of power from the power supply unit 1 to the receiving unit 2 in accordance with the designated type of on and off. Numeral 7 denotes an input unit which effects operation including the designation of the time.
Referring to FIG. 7, a description will be given of the procedure for turning on and off the power supply in accordance with the conventional art.
The user inputs the time for turning on the power supply and the time for turning it off by using the input unit 7 constituted by push switches, for example. Such data is stored in the storage unit 6 which is constituted by, for example, an SRAM. When the time for turning off the power supply, which is stored in the storage unit 6, arrives, the control unit 3 controls the power supply unit 1 to stop the supply of power to the receiving unit 2. Then, when the time for turning on the power supply arrives, the control unit 3 controls the power supply unit 1 to supply power to the receiving unit 2.
However, services of the pager have become diversified, and services have begun whereby various information is provided to subscribers by service providers. At that time, there are cases where the transmitting side transmits information during specific time during the night when the traffic in not congested. At that time, if the power supply of the pager is not turned on, a message cannot be received. On the other hand, if the power supply is kept on, the message can be received, but the battery of the pager is wasted at other time. In addition, even if the user sets the pager in advance so that the power supply is turned on at the time when information is received, in a case where the service provider wishes to change the transmitting time depending on the condition of traffic, there arises a need to notify the user, and it is troublesome for the user to alter the setting.
The present invention aims to overcome the above-described problems, and its object is to provide an excellent pager whose power supply is automatically turned on when the time approaches the time for receiving a message described in a program, whose power supply is automatically turned off after reception of the message so as to allow the message to be received reliably without shortening the battery life by turning on the power supply only when necessary, and which allows the service provider to transmit a message for altering the setting of the pager""s receiving time when the transmitting time has been changed, thereby making it possible to change the time for turning on the power supply without troubling the user.
To attain the above object, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a pager comprising: storage means for storing time data designating receiving time for receiving a message; and control means including reception-operation control means for turning a power supply of the pager on or off as a result obtained by comparison between the time designated by the time data and the present time. Accordingly, a meritorious effect is obtained in that even if the power supply of the pager is off, as for a message the receiving time of which is known in advance, when the time approaches that time, the power supply of the pager is turned on, so that the message can be received reliably. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a reception error due to the failure to turn on the power supply with respect to a message the receiving time of which is known.
Further, since receiving-time setting means is provided for arbitrarily changing the time designated in the time data by using a message received by the pager, even if the time for transmitting a message has been changed, a service provider sends a message for changing the setting of the receiving time of the pager, so that it is possible to change the time for turning on the power supply without troubling the user.
As described above, since the power supply of the pager is automatically turned on in correspondence with the time for receiving a message, and the power supply is automatically turned off after the reception of the message, the message can be received reliably without shortening the battery life by turning on the power supply only when necessary. Even if the transmitting time has been changed, as the service provider sends a message for changing the setting of the receiving time of the pager, the time for turning on the power supply can be changed without troubling the user.
In addition, in the pager, the control means has automatic setting-operation means for automatically turning the power supply of the pager on and off at the time designated in advance, and the reception-operation control means is operated by placing priority on the receiving time if the receiving time is included in a time duration from the time the power supply is turned off by the automatic setting-operation means until the time the power supply is turned on by the automatic setting-operation means. Accordingly, a meritorious effect is obtained in that even if the power supply of the pager is off due to the setting of the pager, as for a message the receiving time of which is known in advance, when the receiving time arrives, the power supply is turned on, so that the message can be received.
In addition, in the pager, since the reception-operation control means turns on the power supply at a fixed timing before the receiving time, a meritorious effect is obtained in that the synchronization of the pager is effected reliably, and the probability of reception is increased.